Low-content vs medium-content books on KDP: what changes

The low-content box changes how a book is published, so it matters which side of the line your book falls on. Below: KDP’s definition and examples, what the box changes, what sellers mean by medium-content, and a quick test for your own book.

What is a low-content book on KDP?

KDP defines low-content books as books with minimal or no content on the interior pages, generally repetitive and designed to be filled in by the reader. Its examples: notebooks, planners, diaries and journals, prompt journals, logbooks, coupon books, score cards, crafting templates and blank sheet music.

Are puzzle and coloring books low-content?

No. KDP lists these as not generally low-content: novels, non-fiction, puzzle books, coloring books, photography books, sheet music, manuals, textbooks and children’s books. A coloring book or a word-search book is published like any other book.

What the low-content box changes

• ISBN: publish without an ISBN or with your own; the free KDP ISBN isn’t offered. Without an ISBN, KDP prints a barcode in a 2 × 1.2 in white box on the back cover, so keep that area clear. See free KDP ISBN vs your own.
• Look Inside: not available without an ISBN, so buyers can’t preview the interior (A+ Content can show it instead).
• Expanded Distribution: not supported for low-content books, whatever the ISBN option (see the full list below).
• No series, no scheduled release date, no Kindle edition. KDP lists blank journals among books not suited to Kindle.

Expanded Distribution has its own content rules, set by the distributors, and they reach well beyond low-content books:

KDP’s Expanded Distribution page says its distributors “may not accept books according to their guidelines and policies”, and that content not currently accepted includes, but is not limited to:

• paperbacks with frequent lined or blank pages (journals, notebooks, planners, calendars, agendas, organizers)
• summaries of, or insight into, another published book without the original author’s permission
• interiors that need a high concentration of ink
• public domain content
• coloring books
• poorly translated content
• content rebranded or re-released with significant metadata changes
• content excessively reused, recycled or repeated within or across books

The same list continues with a table of topics: sport, cryptocurrency, cookbooks, travel guides, Bitcoin, keto, biographies, options trading, intermittent fasting, cryptography, Python, plant-based, guided exercise, NFTs, Mediterranean, word scramble, workbooks, dark psychology, motivational quotations, handwriting practice, manipulation, manifestation, scissor skills, mind control, mindfulness, activity books, hypnosis, fitness and dieting, drawing books, narcissism, ChatGPT, puzzle books, crafting books, word search, trivia books, Cricut, sudoku, how-to books, knitting, crossword, title count over 99, crocheting, maze, joke books, cross stitch. Hardcovers aren’t eligible at all. Source: KDP Help: Expanded Distribution, read on October 4, 2026. Per-type status: KDP Expanded Distribution.

The box is in the Categories section of the paperback or hardcover details, and the ISBN choice can’t be changed after publishing.

What are medium-content books?

“Medium-content” isn’t a KDP term; sellers use it for books between the two: activity books, workbooks, puzzle books. Because their pages carry real, non-repeating content, KDP treats them as regular books: ISBN (the free one is fine), Look Inside, series allowed. Guided journals sit on the line: KDP names prompt journals among its low-content examples, so one that is mostly writing space under a short prompt belongs in the low-content category, while one whose pages carry substantial content is closer to a workbook. See how to make a journal for KDP.

In a puzzle book, every puzzle is different and has its own solution. You can see what that content looks like with our free word search maker, sudoku maker and maze maker, which print pages and answer keys from the generators kdpbook’s puzzle books use.

Which one is your book?

• Every page repeats the same template (lines, grid, tracker, planner spread)? Low-content: tick the box.
• Pages carry unique content: puzzles, illustrations, text, exercises? Not low-content: publish with an ISBN.
• Mostly writing space under a different short prompt on each page? KDP lists prompt journals as low-content, so ticking the box is the careful choice.

In kdpbook, only planner & logbooks, lined notebooks, sketchbooks and password books are flagged as low-content; the guided journal, puzzle book and coloring book types are regular books, and the export sheet tells you which box to tick. For a guided journal, weigh KDP’s prompt-journal example above before you publish.

Comparing low-content tools? Read kdpbook.io vs LowContent.ai and kdpbook.io vs KDP Builder.